7.3 Making Foreign Policy

1
7.3 Making Foreign Policy
2
The President and Foreign Policy

• A nations overall plan for dealing with other
  nations is called its foreign policy the
  president directs the foreign policy of the
  United States
• The primary goal of US foreign policy is national
  security, the ability to keep the country safe
  from attack or harm

3
The President and Foreign Policy

• There are four main goals of US foreign policy
• National Security
• International Trade
• Promoting World Peace
• Promote democracy and human rights around the
  world

4
The President and Foreign Policy

• The president works with a large foreign policy
  bureaucracy in the Executive Branch includes the
  State Department, the Defense Department, the
  Central Intelligence Agency, and the National
  Security Council
• These agencies carry out presidential decisions
  around the world and give the president valuable
  information

5
Congress vs. The President

• The president is chief diplomat and commander in
  chief, but Congress has the power to declare war,
  to prohibit certain military actions, and to
  spend or withhold money for defense

6
Treaties and Executive Agreements

• Formal agreements between the governments of two
  or more countries are called treaties

7
Treaties and Executive Agreements

• Some treaties are based on defense nations
  become allies and agree to support each other in
  case of attack
• One of the most important is the North Atlantic
  Treaty Organization (NATO) this is a mutual
  defense treaty between the US, Canada, and
  nations in Europe

8
Treaties and Executive Agreements

• The Senate must approve a treaty by a 2/3 vote
  but the President can bypass the Senate by making
  an Executive Agreement
• This is an agreement between the President and
  leader of another country, these usually deal
  with routine matters

9
Appoint Ambassadors

• An official representative of a countrys
  government is an ambassador
• The President appoints about 150 ambassadors who
  are approved by the Senate they are only sent to
  countries where the US recognizes the legal
  existence of the government

10
Foreign Aid

• Money, food, military assistance, or other
  supplies given to help other countries

11
Foreign Aid

• The best example in history of foreign aid was
  the Marshall Plan, a program to rebuild Western
  Europe after World War II

12
International Trade

• The President can make agreements with other
  nations about what products may be traded and the
  rules for such trading Sometimes trade measures
  can include trade sanctions or efforts to punish
  a nation by imposing trade barriers

13
International Trade

• Another punishing tool is the embargo where a
  nation prohibits trade with another nation

14
International Trade

• Congress takes the lead in other areas, such as
  tariffs- taxes on imported goods- and membership
  in international trade groups, such as the North
  American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the
  World Trade Organization (WTO)

15
International Trade

• NAFTA- North American Free Trade Agreement
• WTO- World Trade Organization

16
Military Force

• Presidents may use the military to carry out some
  foreign policy decisions numerous times in
  history presidents have sent troops even though
  Congress had not declared war